A reminder to anyone who might find this story entertaining or interesting: You might want to check out the prequel to this story, Caliban's Daughters. Either way, heeeere's (in the voice of Ed McMahon)…
Act 3
Manhattan, Kansas: February, 1977
We are in the gymnasium at Manhattan High School. Four teenaged boys are shooting basketball. One of them is a very large young man with longish blond hair and a broad build usually more associated with a football player than a basketball player. One of the other young men shoots a brick. The large young man rebounds the ball, dribbles the ball while taking three quick backward steps, then shoots the ball from the free throw line. As the ball swishes through the basket without touching the rim, we hear a girl's voice yell "whooo!" while clapping her hands.
"Way to go, McGrath!" we hear a girl's voice yell. Our vantage point shifts to Lyssa Carter, who is walking into the gym in blue jeans, brown shoes, and a burgundy sweater. She is also wearing an open light tan coat with white shag on the collar and sleeves, and a red backpack on top of the open coat.
"Hey, Lyssa," one of the other boys says. "You're boyfriend was telling us that you could do something with a basketball that we had to see to believe. Why don't you show us?"
Lyssa turns and glares at her boyfriend and future husband, John McGrath.
"At least it wasn't something about a cucumber," she says, eliciting a chorus of snickers, "ooohs", and whistles.
"C'mon," John says. "Let's show them."
Lyssa shakes her head and looks at John.
"You know I'm not supposed to show off like…" Lyssa says, but her voice trails off as her boyfriend makes puppy dog eyes at her, brings the palms of his hands together, and mouths please.
"Oh, all right," Lyssa says. "I'll do this once."
She walks to the edge of the court and shrugs off her backpack and coat. Then she comes back and stands at the free throw line.
"Stand back everybody," John says. "Give her room." He stands just inside the free throw line at a 90 degree angle from Lyssa, who is facing the basket.
"Whenever you're ready," Lyssa says. John tosses the basketball straight up in the air and steps back. Lyssa quickly steps back and turns to the side, brings her right foot up, and karate kicks the ball as it descends. The kick is very controlled. We follow the ball as it travels up to the basket and swishes through perfectly.
"What'd I tell you?" John says to his team mates, who are standing with their mouths open in disbelief.
"No way!" the boy who first challenged Lyssa says. "Do that again!"
"C'mon Lyssa," John says. "Let's do it. Further back this time."
"John, if I get caught doing this, you have no idea how much trouble I could get into," Lyssa says.
Again, John makes with the puppy dog eyes and pleading hands.
"Get the damn ball," Lyssa says.
Lyssa moves halfway between the free throw circle and the half court line. John brings the ball to her, and stands at a right angle just in front of her as he did before. He tosses the ball up and steps back, and Lyssa again kicks the ball through the basket, this time yelling "ha!" as she does so.
This time, the boys break into spontaneous and enthusiastic applause.
John grins at his girlfriend.
"OK, half court line," he says.
"No, John," Lyssa says. "I have to go to my private lessons now and…"
"Lyssa," a gruff voice says loudly and sternly.
Lyssa whirls and her eyes go wide.
"Oh sh-," she starts to say, but Travers interrupts her.
"Lyssa, come over here please," Travers says from the gymnasium door. "Now."
Lyssa turns and glares at John.
"Thanks a lot, I am really busted," she says to him. Then she walks over to Travers.
"Let's walk," Travers says. Lyssa nods wordlessly, and they both walk out of the gym.
Our vantage point switches back to John and his friends.
"Who was that guy?" one of the boys asks John.
"I think that's Lyssa's private tutor," John replies.
"Really?" another one of the boys says. "What's he teach her?"
John shrugs.
"I have no idea, and she won't tell me," he says.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with her being able to kick basketballs into the basket," the boy who challenged Lyssa says.
"I don't know," John replies. "Maybe."
We return to Travers and Lyssa as they walk through a high school hallway.
"Look," Lyssa says. "I'm really sorry. I know I'm not supposed to…"
Travers chuckles, and Lyssa is clearly startled at the chuckle. She stops and stares at him.
"Never mind about that," Travers says. "Even 24 hours ago I would have been quite cross about you showing off like that. But now it really no longer matters."
"Wh…what do you mean?" Lyssa asks. "Is there something wrong? I mean, you've never come to school before."
"Nikki Wood was killed on a subway train in New York last week," Travers says.
"Oh," Lyssa says very quietly. "Was it Lothos?"
"No, curiously enough, it was a relatively young vampire by the name of Spike," Travers says. "I imagine that Lothos is very disappointed."
"So what does this mean?" Lyssa asks.
Quentin shrugs.
"Well, if Miss Wood had had the good grace to die even a year ago, things might have been different," Travers says. "But as it stands, I am glad she didn't."
"What do you mean?" Lyssa asks.
"A new slayer has been called in Afghanistan," Travers says.
Lyssa's head drops.
"So, I wasn't chosen," she says. "You must be so disappointed in me."
"Disappointed?" Travers says. "Good heavens, no! I'm happy for you, and you should be happy for you as well. You now have your whole life ahead of you."
"Maybe I'll still be called after the Afghanistan slayer…you know," Lyssa says.
Travers shakes his head.
"If you were going to be called, you would have been called now," he says. "Your time has passed."
"So, what about tonight's lesson?" Lyssa asks.
"There will be no more lessons, Lyssa," Travers says. "You will be able to fully embrace your life here: Your schoolwork, your boyfriend, and your future. I will return to England. I came to say goodbye."
"Wait," Lyssa says. "Shouldn't we at least have dinner together or something before you go?"
"Why don't you have dinner with that young man of yours?" Travers says. "I have reservations to fly home tonight. I'm leaving you my car, my taxi is waiting outside."
"Wait, but…" Lyssa says.
Travers kisses her on the forehead.
"Goodbye, Lyssa," he says. Then he turns and walks away. Lyssa watches him with a stunned, almost heartbroken look on her face. We follow Travers as he walks down the corridor, Lyssa a shinking figure in the background. When he is a good distance away, he mutters softly:
"Good riddance."
Nottingham, England: November, 2003
Caitlyn runs from the waiting room and by the nurse's station. The nurse, the same 50ish woman who was there when Edna Giles awoke, stands up and yells at Caitlyn to stop. But the little slayer is much too fast, and she lowers her shoulder and slams through the doors.
"Good heavens!" the nurse exclaims as the locked doors are broken and forced apart by a young girl.
We follow Caitlyn as she runs through the hallway. Then we see the male nurse, followed by what looks to be an orderly, thrown out of one of the intensive care rooms. The male nurse is in somewhat better shape, and manages to half crawl and stagger to an intercom.
"Security!" he yells. "We need immediate help! We have a crazed woman who is strong as an ox. We can't stop her and she is trying to kill a patient!"
The male nurse's jaw drops and his eyes go wide as he sees Caitlyn run by him.
"Little girl, wait!" he yells. But then another, more familiar, male voice cries out.
"Caitlyn!" Giles yells. "In here! Hurry!"
Caitlyn runs into the room. Giles is slumped against the far wall, his right arm at a funny angle. Lyssa is tearing the oxygen mask away from Edna Giles' face with one hand while pulling a pillow out from under her head with the other. She then puts the pillow over Edna's face.
"Mom, NO!!" Caitlyn yells. She then places her hands over her mother's wrists, engaging in a superhuman tug of war to pull the pillow off of Edna's face.
"Stop it, Mom!" Caitlyn yells. However, Lyssa as the adult slayer appears too strong for her 12 year old daughter.
"Caitlyn," Lyssa says. "Go back to the waiting room. Mommy will see you out there."
"She can't stop, Caitlyn," Giles says. "Your mother's enthralled."
"What??" Caitlyn says as she still tries to pull her mother's hands and the pillow away from Edna's face.
"It means someone is controlling her," Giles says.
"You mean the man my Mom was talking to out in the lobby?" Caitlyn asks Giles.
"Probably so, yes," Giles says as he staggers to his feet. Edna's weak struggles are getting weaker. "We have to stop her!"
At Giles' words, the expression on Caitlyn's face shows new resolve, and instead of trying to pull her mother's hands back, she moves her hands to the pillow and tears it in half, uncovering Edna's face. Edna inhales with a loud gasp, and Caitlyn steps between her mother and her intended victim.
"Caitlyn, stand aside," Lyssa says in a calm voice. "Mommy needs to kill the demon that is pretending to be Mrs. Giles."
"No, Mom," Caitlyn says. "She's not a demon. It's that other man, he did something to you. He lied to you."
"Quentin Travers is my watcher, honey," Lyssa says. "He wouldn't lie to me."
Both Edna's and Giles' eyes go wide.
"Yes, Mom," Caitlyn says. "He's lying to you and he's making you hurt people. People like your boyfriend and your boyfriend's grandma! You broke Giles' arm, Mom!"
Lyssa starts to waver, then she shakes her head vigorously.
"Get out of my way, Caitlyn, or I'll have to make you get out of my way" saying this, Lyssa draws back her right fist threateningly. Caitlyn's eyes widen in shock and hurt.
"Mom?" she says in a soft, scared voice.
"Caitlyn..." Lyssa says in a tone of warning, but then her expression switches to one of realization and shock.
We hear the voice of a younger Quentin Travers, as if from a great distance.
"Then I will tell you some stories of my own."
"Caitlyn, oh Caitlyn," Lyssa says, sinking to her knees. "Oh God, I'm so sorry."
Mother and daughter hug. Giles, even though he is in evident great pain, sighs with relief as he checks on his grandmother. Then the male nurse slams into Giles, staggering him. At first, it looks as if he is attacking Giles, but then he slides off Giles and falls to the floor. His neck has been broken.
"Well," we hear Travers' gruff voice say. "A family reunion. Isn't this just precious."
Travers then steps into the room. Giles attempts to step between Travers and his grandmother, but before he can finish his intention, Caitlyn runs forward and yells "Get out!"
In response, Travers grabs Caitlyn by the throat and turns her around, facing Lyssa.
"Finish your task, Lyssa, like a good girl," he says. "Or your girl will end up like this man…"
He nudges the dead nurse with his left foot.
"…and the poor sod in the hallway."
Lyssa looks at him, her eyes wide with shock and hurt.
"Very well, if you're still too squeamish, I'll do it myself," Travers says. "But first…"
Just as the screen goes black, we hear a wet crack.
Los Angeles
We return to a view of the disguised Dawn and Karen looking through the office window at Spike and Harmony.
"Dawn, what are you and Karyn looking at?" we hear Buffy's voice say. Dawn and Karyn turn and we see the disguised Buffy and Robin standing behind them.
"Sex in an office," Dawn says without batting an eye.
"What?" Buffy says quietly but intensely. Behind her, we see various security staff run by, followed by Angel and Eve. Buffy turns and sees Angel, and ducks her head closer into Dawn.
"We are so going to have a talk when we get back!" she hisses to Dawn. "But now, we need to get out of here before we find out that the crystal's illusion doesn't extend to smell."
Dawn and Karyn, looking slightly chastened and rather tense, follow Buffy as she starts down the hall away from the office and the copier room. Robin looks back and starts to approach the window when we hear Buffy's voice hiss "NO!"
Robin draws himself up short and follows Buffy, Dawn, and Karyn. In the background, we hear Lorne's voice as he recounts to Angel what happened.
"Then I see Mr. Considerate here, covered in blood, making mashed potatoes of this guy, and before I can get to 'what's wrong with this picture?' he clocks me right in the coconut!"
We don't hear Angel's response because we follow the disguised foursome down the steps to the lobby.
"Dawn," Buffy says. "Take Karyn and go back to the library and wait for our contact."
"But…" Dawn says.
"Not one more word, Dawnie!" Buffy says. "C'mon, Robin."
"Don't call me Dawnie," Dawn mutters sullenly as Buffy and Robin walk away.
We follow Buffy and Robin.
"So, what now?" Robin asks.
"Now?" Buffy responds. "Since now it looks like we are going to be waiting awhile, we go to the cafeteria and we see if they serve a nice mocha."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Robin asks. "Maybe I should go with Dawn while Karyn goes with you, since they seem to get into such trouble together."
"No, you come with me," Buffy says. "Karyn doesn't deserve mocha goodness. What am I going to tell her mom? 'Oh, so sorry, Lyssa, I let your daughter watch office sex in the world's most evil law firm'. She's gonna kill me, if I don't kill Dawn first!"
Nottingham, England
At first there is blackness.
"Curious," we hear Travers voice say.
Then there is light, and we see again. Travers is standing where he was when last we saw him, just inside the door to Edna's hospital room. However, now Travers' right arm is twisted away from his body. Indeed, the arm looks like it has been half ripped away, with red and green goo dripping from open tears in the flesh. Underneath the flesh, we see wires spitting sparks, and a metallic skeleton.
"Mom," Caitlyn says, looking up at her former captor. "Mom, I think he's a robot."
"Curious," Travers says again. "I didn't realize that your youngest is also a slayer."
"I've tried to keep her out of things," Lyssa says. Then with lightning speed she slams up against the Travers duplicate, carrying him out of the hospital room and smashing him into the opposite wall in the hallway. She pins him against the wall, and her face is now a mask of rage.
"Didn't…anyone…ever…warn…you…not...to mess with…the Mommy?" Lyssa says.
"Oh but I have been messing with you, and for a very long time," the Travers duplicate says.
"No, it wasn't you," Lyssa says. "You're nothing but a robot. A false Quentin, trying to sully his memory."
"My dear young lady," the robotic Quentin says in a patronizing tone. "Who do you think sent me? Don't you recognize this?"
So saying, the Travers duplicate uses his good arm to pull the crystal he had previously been polishing out of his coat pocket. This time, however, Lyssa swipes it out of his hand without looking at it.
"That won't work again," Lyssa says.
"Evidently not," the Travers duplicate says. "However, it did work just a few minutes before, and it worked because you had been primed to respond to it years ago. Who do you think primed you to respond to it?"
Lyssa looks at the Travers duplicate, her expression still extremely angry, but now there is a hint of doubt in her expression.
"Quentin," she says softly. "Quentin used to have me spend hours staring into that thing. 'Deep meditation', he called it."
"Indeed he did," the Travers duplicate says. Then he moves his head to look at Giles and Caitlyn in the hospital room. "Well, it has been entertaining, but it is time for me to go."
"You're not going anywhere," Lyssa snarls.
The Travers duplicate smiles, a horribly triumphant smile.
"Actually, we are all 'going somewhere'," he says. "Look into my eyes, Lyssa. We are all going to Kingdom Come."
Lyssa looks, and then we see what she sees. Within the pupil of each eye there is a red LED display, depicting a countdown.
11…10…9…
"Giles!" Lyssa yells. "Keep everyone inside! I think he's a bomb!"
Our vantage point switches to inside the hospital room. We see Lyssa move with sudden, superhuman speed to the right, carrying the Travers duplicate out of the doorway and out of our view.
"MOM!" Caitlyn yells.
Grimacing in pain, Giles quickly sinks to his knees, blocking Caitlyn's progress out the door. Even as he does so we hear, and see a flash of light from, a tremendous explosion. Plaster comes off of the walls in the hospital room. We see some debris blow into the hall from the direction that Lyssa ran in. Immediately after the explosion, we also see flames and smoke.
"Mom?" Caitlyn whispers fearfully. "Mom? Mom! Mommy!!!"
Caitlyn shoves Giles aside and runs into the hall. Giles covers his eyes with his left hand and starts to cry silently, tears running down his face.
Los Angeles
"Well, it's about time you got here," Sirk says to the disguised Dawn and Karyn as they enter into the library.
"We were just here a few minutes ago," Dawn says. "We didn't see you, and the library was locked."
"Well, you see there is this room called 'the necessary'," Sirk says, his voice dripping with condescension. "If you'd have had the patience to wait just a few minutes, we wouldn't have to rush through this."
"Rush through what?" Karyn asks. "And by the way, where are all the books? Isn't this a library?"
"Which one of you is Dawn Summers, the one with intelligence?" Sirk asks, ignoring Karyn's questions. "Please tell me one of you is the younger Miss Summers."
"That would be me," Dawn answers. "Now, what is it you want us to 'rush through'?"
Sirk pulls out one of the massive books sitting upright on his desk and opens it.
"This," Sirk says. "The Scrolls of Aberjian."
"You have the scrolls?" Dawn asks. "I thought Angel would keep them in his possession."
Sirk sighs in apparent exasperation.
"He did," Sirk says. "But from these books I can call up any document in any Wolfram and Hart library, in any dimension where we have offices. And unlike Angel's copy, the copies called into this book will be complete."
"Really?" Dawn says, suddenly very interested.
"Yes," Sirk says. "Now, the Scrolls have been translated into a variety of languages. Angel's copy was in proto-Bantu. There are also Sumerian, Abyssinian, and Old Kingdom Egyptian translations. I've heard there is also a Mayan translation as well, but I can't seem to call it up."
"What language were they originally written in?" Dawn asks.
"?'krevlonian," Sirk says. "You probably haven't heard of it, it was spoken by…"
"The people who created the Aurignacian stone age culture in Western Europe," Dawn finishes. "Hints of it are found in cave paintings, but most of it was hidden inside of goddess figurines. It was the secret language of the priestess class back then, and has remained a secret since. It's thought to have originally been either a demon or higher being language, and it's the language that the first watcher journals were kept in."
"My God," Sirk says, his entire affect changed into one of abject admiration. "I must admit I find myself at a loss for words…"
Sirk then shakes his head.
"I have to go," he says, picking up another massive book. "I was summoned by Angel while I was waiting for you. Ironically, I am being asked by my employer to review the Shanshu Prophecy, which is contained in this very Scroll you wish to examine. You may use the open book here to conduct your own review. Which translation would you like to review?"
"Better make it Sumerian," Dawn says. "I am completely fluent in that now. I would also like the original ?'krevlonian side by side with it, if possible."
"Remarkable," Sirk says. He then says to the open book, "Scrolls of Aberjian. Two columns. ?'krevlonian on the left, Sumerian translation on the right."
Sirk then picks up his other book and starts towards the door. Without looking at him, Dawn grabs him by the upper arm as he walks by.
"Ow!" Sirk exclaims.
"Just one more thing," Dawn says. "What's with the local chaos spell you cast here?"
"What chaos…" Sirk starts to ask. "Ow!!"
"Don't try to lie to me," Dawn says. "Trust me, you aren't that smart and you wouldn't want a combination witch and slayer mad at you."
"I am assisting one of Angel's enemies in running a con on him," Sirk says. "It won't hurt him, but it will put doubts in his head. Once the con is done, Angel will be aware I have betrayed him and I hope to be long gone by that time. I don't want to face him, and I certainly don't want to face Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, who I assure you I find much more intimidating than I find you."
"You find Wesley intimidating?" Dawn says in disbelief. Then she shakes her head. "Never mind. Giles trusted you. Maybe I'll give you to him to…"
"I have not, nor will I, betray Rupert's trust," Sirk says. "He knows why, I know why, you don't need to know why. Suffice it to say that anything I do for you at his request will be above the board. On the other hand, if you keep me from going to see Angel now, he will come down looking for me, and you have a very limited time to take your pictures of the Scrolls as it is."
Dawn and Sirk stare at each other.
"If what you are doing results in death or serious injury to Angel, I will hunt you down myself," Dawn says. "I will find you, and I will hurt you. Is that clear?"
Sirk nods.
"Get out," Dawn says.
Sirk leaves. Dawn turns and looks at Karyn.
"Not one word about this is said to Buffy," Dawn says.
"Are you sure?" Karyn says.
"Positive," Dawn says as she goes to the book and starts to page through it rapidly.
"Uhm," Karyn says. "Where's the camera?"
"I'm the camera," Dawn says. "I'm sending the images through my link with Willow, and she is duplicating them on a computer."
"Oh," Karyn says. "OK."
Los Angeles, eleven minutes later
Buffy and Robin are standing in the lobby, looking at the stairway to the next floor. Sirk is going down the stairs with his typically sour expression. Even as he is holding the massive book with both arms he is rubbing his upper right arm where Dawn had grabbed him. Our view switches face on to the disguised Buffy and Robin.
"Wasn't that our inside guy?" Robin asks Buffy.
"It was," Buffy says. Then she looks up. "Let's get out of here before Angel shows up. I don't know if Willow's spell extends to how we smell."
On cue, we hear Angel's voice bellow.
"Spike! Where the Hell are you?"
Up at the head of the stairs, we see Angel. He pauses, his face suddenly assuming a look of concentration. He starts to sniff.
Our view switches back to Buffy and Robin. Both of their eyes are opened as wide as they can be. Robin turns to Buffy, his eyes still wide.
"Maybe he means a different Spike," he says. "It might be a popular demon name, right?"
Gunn walks to Angel's side, his expression worried. Angel pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and punches in a number.
"Hello, motor pool?" he says. "By any chance did you see a certain peroxide headed pest in the past minute or so?"
Buffy turns to Robin.
"No, it's our Spike," she says. "Angel wouldn't use that tone of voice talking about anyone else."
"He overpowered you and took keys?" Angel is asking. "What did he take the keys to?"
Angel's expression darkens as he hears the answer.
"Damn it! He took the Viper?"
Angel slams shut the cell phone and turns to Gunn.
"I have to go now!" he says. "As if it isn't bad enough he's trying to steal my destiny, he has to do it in my Viper!"
As he descends the rest of the way down the stairs he mutters to himself.
"I know it will make her mad, but I'm gonna have to stake him."
As Angel moves over to an elevator, which opens immediately for him before he touches a button, Gunn moves down the stairs, followed by Fred and Eve.
"I wish Wes was here," Fred says to Gunn. "Instead of visiting his father, I mean."
"Why?" Gunn asks.
" I'd just like to have a second opinion on the whole universe being destabilized into oblivion because we now have two vampire champions with souls thing," Fred answers.
As Fred, Gunn, and Eve walk out of frame and their voices fade with distance, our view switches once again to Buffy and Robin.
"Maybe she means another vampire champion with a soul," Robin says. "One who also just happens to be named Spike."
Buffy doesn't say anything. She just looks at Robin.
"Are you OK?" Robin asks.
"No, I'm pissed," Buffy says.
"Do you want to follow Angel, keep them from killing each other?" Robin asks.
"No," Buffy says decisively after a moment. "Evidently, Angel decided that Spike's return wasn't my business, and Spike agreed with that. So, it's not our business what they do to each other."
"Do you think this is about the prophecy concerning the 'vampire with a soul', and that there are now two of them?" Robin asks.
"Maybe," Buffy says. "Or maybe Spike isn't really Spike, but another robot, and someone is running an elaborate con game on Angel. Remember, Dawn said that there was a local chaos spell going on here. Maybe whoever's running this game is taking advantage of the fact that Wesley's gone."
"Wesley," Robin says. "Wait a minute, that's the guy who…"
"Checked to see if I was all right," Buffy finishes. "Looks like the robot duplicates from the original Watcher's Council are here also, maybe about the Scrolls."
Buffy starts to walk towards the stairs.
"Come on," Buffy says. "While Angel's gone, it's our chance to see if we can find the Scroll and get out of here."
The scene switches to Angel's office. Buffy and Robin approach the door.
"I'm going to see if I can break the lock," Buffy says.
"Buffy," Robin says. "Wolfram and Hart probably has an alarm on this door."
"I'll take the risk," Buffy says. "We may not get another chance, and we are running out of time. Our disguises won't last for-"
Buffy stumbles forward as the door opens easily. She walks in, Robin follows. Inside the door, leaning against Angel's desk, is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Or, at least it appears to be Wesley.
"Shut the door," Buffy says to Robin.
"Well Virginia, Franklin," Wesley says, pushing himself off the desk and walking up to Buffy and Robin. "Funny to see you two here, evidently trying to break into our leader's office.
"But then, you're not Virginia and Franklin, are you? You see, I kind of know this because I terminated them, with some prejudice, not one week earlier. They were cheating the company and the Senior Partners."
Buffy crosses her arms.
"You're right," she says. "I'm not Virginia, he's not Franklin, and you're not Wesley. Everybody seems to be wearing a new face tonight."
"Wesley" moves his neck as if getting a kink out.
"True enough," he says. His features start to swim, and he becomes taller and fills out. The dark slacks and polo shirt he is wearing morph into an impeccable black suit with thin vertical white stripes. The now very big man brushes an imaginary piece of lint off of his suit coat sleeve. "I'm Hamilton. I suppose you are two of Quentin Travers' duplicates. What is it here that has the old Watcher's Council so interested that they can't go through proper channels?"
"Keep watch," Buffy says to Robin. "I'll take care of this."
Buffy steps towards Hamilton, and he backhands her with his right hand. Buffy flies across the room and slams through the far wall with a terrific crash. Then, Hamilton walks up to the picture window that looks out into the hallway, and over the lobby. There, he pushes a button and the window goes dark.
"I don't think we want to be disturbed, do you?" Hamilton says to Robin. Robin launches a spectacular spin kick at Hamilton's face, but Hamilton barely reacts as the kick strikes, except to slightly turn his head. Robin's follow through after the kick is disrupted, and he lands off balance. Hamilton steps forward, grabs the shirt on Robin's chest, picks him up and presses him against the wall.
"I'm afraid I've already mangled your companion's circuits," Hamilton says. "And I've always wanted to get a look at the inside of one of the old Council's cyborgs."
"Leave him alone!" a voice shouts. Then we see Buffy's hands grab Hamilton's right arm, pulling it away from Robin. As Robin slumps to the floor, his eyes wide in disbelief, Buffy picks up Hamilton and throws him over Angel's desk and into the wall behind. "Don't touch him!"
The voice is not Buffy's.
Robin whispers, very softly.
"Mom?"
Hamilton stands up from behind the desk and walks around it.
"Huh," he says. "I didn't realize they made cyborgs as formidable as you. But, I am still stronger than you."
"You're right, Hamilton," Buffy says, this time in her own voice. "You're stronger than I am."
Then Buffy's disguised face smiles a predatory smile.
"Not that that will be enough to save you."
Buffy then literally pounces forward off frame with incredible speed. We hear a terrific crash, followed by another. We hear terrific blows and grunts of exertion and pain from both Buffy and Hamilton. Robin watches.
The door to Angel's office opens, but Robin doesn't notice as Dawn and Karyn walk in. Dawn then grabs Robin and pulls him down as Buffy flies spinning over their heads to smash against the door, leaving a large crack, and causing the door to sag off of one of its hinges.
"Do you need help?" Dawn asks Buffy.
Buffy springs to her feet, seemingly none the worse for wear except for a little blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth.
"No," she says. "I've got this. See if you and Robin can find the Scroll."
"Actually…" Dawn starts to say, but Buffy is already springing forward to renew her fight with Hamilton. Again there are the sounds of terrific crashes and blows, and shouts and grunts of exertion and pain. Then we hear a particularly loud thump, followed by a relatively high pitched groan of pain from Hamilton. Our view switches from the inside doorway to Angel's office to Angel's office proper. Hamilton is on his right hand and knees, holding his groin with his left hand, and trying to push himself back upright again.
"Like I said," Buffy says. "Being stronger than me? Not enough, particularly when you're that slow."
Hamilton lunges to his feet and launches a terrific left cross at Buffy, who easily ducks it. Buffy kicks him in the left knee. Hamilton collapses back down to his knees again, grimacing in pain.
"You're not one of Travers' duplicates," Hamilton says. Then from his knees he tries to strike again with his left fist. Buffy catches it with the palm of her left hand.
"The thing is," she says. "You're not even that much stronger than me."
With that, she hits him with a terrific right cross, knocking him to his hands and knees. As he tries to get back up, Buffy reaches down and snaps his neck. Hamilton falls like a sack of potatoes.
"Was that really necessary?" Dawn asks.
"Yeah, it was," Buffy says, although there is a scary, predatory smile on her face as she speaks. She is still facing away from her companions so they don't see her expression. "He was almost too much for me, and in my current state, that's really saying a lot."
Then Buffy's expression sobers. She turns towards Dawn.
"Let's see if we can find the Scroll and get out of here," Buffy says.
"Actually," Dawn says. "Mission already accomplished. Got the pictures of what we need and relayed them to Willow."
Buffy blinks in surprise.
"OK then," she says. "Let's get out of here."
Our view slowly moves towards Hamilton lying prone on Angel's carpeted floor. His face is looking over his right shoulder at an unnatural angle. From the right side of the frame, out of our view, we see a bright green glow, and hear four pops of imploding air. Our view remains on Hamilton as the glow decreases with each pop, until it goes out completely with the fourth pop. Hamilton lays unmoving for four more seconds, then his right hand starts to move. He pushes himself back to his hands and knees, and then back to his knees. Then, he reaches up to his head with both hands, and wrenches his head back into a forward facing position. He moves his head around, grimacing in pain. We hear several audible pops and creaks. He slowly stands up.
"I hate it when they break my neck," he says once he is standing up. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone.
"Send a cleanup and restoration crew to Mr. Angel's office immediately please," Hamilton says.
Rome
Buffy, no longer in disguise, is sitting at her desk holding a wet rag to the side of her face. Dawn, Robin, and Karyn, all looking like themselves again, are standing around the desk. Willow is standing a short distance away holding an open cell phone, a grim expression on her face.
"Did you get it all?" Dawn asks Willow anxiously.
"Yeah," Willow says. "Yeah, I did."
Dawn notices the phone in Willow's hand, and her grim expression.
"Willow, what's wrong?" she asks.
"It's Giles," Willow says. Dawn reaches for the phone.
"Actually," Willow says. "It's not for you. It's for Karyn."
Karyn, her expression now worried, takes the phone from Willow. Willow jerks her head at Dawn to follow her to the far corner. Buffy and Robin follow. Willow starts to whisper to them.
"Yeah?" Karyn says into the phone. "Mom?...She was in an explosion? Is she…?"
Karyn listens as Giles responds. We can just make out his voice, but not what he is saying.
"Giles wait…I still want to ask you…" Karyn says. "Mom? Mom, are you OK?... He was a bomb?...Caitlyn saved you?...Yeah, it went OK, we got the Scroll…Sure, you rest up, Mom, getbetter…Goodnight."
There is a pause, then we hear a higher pitched voice come from the phone.
"Hey, Caitlyn," Karyn says. "Thanks for saving Mom…Of course I know that she's your Mom too, don't be such a…never mind…yeah, I love you too.
"Goodbye."
Karyn closes the cell phone. She turns to Robin, Dawn, and Buffy, who are all looking at her with concern.
"I need to get a plane to England," Karyn says. "Immediately."
"Actually, I think there's a faster way," Dawn says as she rolls up the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
London
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce is walking along a London sidewalk. A large black car pulls alongside him, little American flags flying on the front corners of the hood. Then, two men in black jump out and grab him. Wesley punches one, knocking him down. The other reaches into his coat when a familiar voice says from within the car:
"Wes, cut the drama and get in."
Wesley is obviously surprised, but he immediately steps around the man he knocked down and complies. We follow him into the car. In the seat next to him is a woman in formal military dress, US Army. There are sergeant's stripes on her upper arm, and the name tag says Lehane. Her dark brown hair is tied up neatly in a bun under her beret. The woman turns and looks at Wes with a big grin as the car door closes, and the two men who tried to grab Wesley climb into the front seat.
"Hey, Wes," Faith says. "We need to talk."
End of the Webisode
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